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It’s been a little while since we checked in on the market for the mid-year 911. Mostly that’s due to not frequently coming across particularly desirable examples. As one of the least loved of the air-cooled 911 range, and with performance and reliability concerns being largely responsible for that lack of love, these simply aren’t models that owners tucked away, using only for weekend cruising, or models that restorers have had their eye on returning to former glory.
This one is an exception. It has been fully restored and even though that restoration occurred seven years ago it still looks in wonderful condition. It’s also a nice color combination even if dark green metallics tend to attract less attention than other available colors. For those who are fans of dark green though – and I count myself in that group – I think this combination should have a good deal of appeal. The asking price strikes me as a bit high, but, again, I haven’t had a good eye on the market so a nice example could be capable of fetching this value. We shall see. Let’s take a look: here we have an Oak Green Metallic 1977 Porsche 911S Coupe with Cork interior.
Summer is approaching, which means warmer weather is on the way! At least that’s the theory. I’ve already seen that a baseball game has been postponed today because of snow. Still it’s probably safe to assume that it will be sunny and warm relatively soon and top-down motoring will once again be the thing to do. Back in the days when I actually drove on a daily basis I used to love the first few top-down drives of the Spring. They always brought a renewed sense of freedom and exhilaration to any drive. It was the best way to drive when I had nowhere to go. As the air grew warmer and the days longer I looked forward to those drives more and more. Even commuting wasn’t terrible.
So, let’s look at a Cabriolet then. Here we have an Atlas Grey Metallic 2004 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet with Natural Brown leather interior and a lovely 6-speed manual transmission. It only has 11,352 miles on it and the price is quite high so this isn’t bargain shopping by any means. But I wouldn’t expect a sale at this price anyway so perhaps it can be worked down to something more reasonable. While just about any top-down drive can be a joy, having 415 hp at your fingertips certainly makes things that extra bit more enjoyable. To quote Dr. Frasier Crane, “if less is more, then just think of how much more more will be!”
An early 930 is always a nice thing to come across. One that comes in a unique color palette is even better! The example we see here requires some sorting out, but let’s get to what we know. This is a Medium Green Metallic 1978 Porsche 930, located in Florida, with a white leather interior and green carpets. It’s said to have only traveled 39,500 miles. As you might note immediately this is a color combination we don’t see very often. The only other one I can recall is Kermit: the 1979 911SC Coupe painted Scirocco Viper Green. There may be others, but probably not many. As a testament to that rarity this one is said to have both a paint-to-sample exterior and a leather-to-sample interior. Rare indeed.
1978 saw the most notable changes made to the 930 over its 13 year run. The original 3.0 turbocharged flat-six was increased to 3.3 liters and an air-to-air intercooler was added. The rear spoiler was modified as well, changing from the whale tail to the tea try, so as to make use of that intercooler. And then a short two years later the 930 was no longer offered in the US market. So there aren’t a lot of them and while the ’78 isn’t typically as valuable and sought after as the earlier 3.0 liter they still do command attention.
Among Porsche’s various highly sought after and iconic colors, Riviera Blue stands out. On the one hand, I have a sense of why that is, but on the other I’m not quite sure why it stands so tall. Typically Porsche’s most well known colors come from the ’60s and ’70s. They are the colors we saw on the original longhood 911s. That they are iconic is just as much a testament to their longevity, i.e. long-term desirability, than it is to the attractiveness of the color itself.
In relative terms, Riviera Blue is young having only debuted on the 993. So why does it seem to command the most attention and dollars? That’s a question I’m less sure about. One thing seems clear: when a Riviera Blue 911 comes up for auction the selling price almost always moves higher. It is a heck of a head turner, there is no doubt about its allure in that regard.
Here we see it as the paint-to-sample choice on this fairly new 2018 Porsche 911 GT3, located in Pennsylvania.
Among 911s that really pop off the page this Gold Metallic 1971 Porsche 911T Targa really stands out. It won’t grab you because of what model it is; this is the entry-level 911 of its day and the Targa itself doesn’t really draw the eyes as much as the longhood Coupe. But that Gold Metallic paint attracts your eyes and doesn’t let go. I’ve seen this color a few times not looking at its best and the difference in appeal is substantial. So it’ll probably require effort to keep it looking this good, but I’m guessing any new owner will have no problem putting in the elbow grease to keep this early 911 looking great.
